Over One-Third of World’s Population Exposed to Deadly Secondhand Smoke, Putting Billions, Including Millions of Children, at Risk

Washington, D.C. – More than one-third of the world’s population – including 767 million children – was exposed to secondhand smoke in 2023, according to the latest Global Burden of Disease analysis published in The Lancet. That amounts to more than 2.71 billion people exposed to secondhand smoke in public places or at home, putting them at serious risk of disease or premature death.

Secondhand smoke is a deadly mixture of more than 7,000 chemicals, including at least 70 known carcinogens. It is a known cause of cancer, heart disease and other illness among nonsmokers and resulted in more than 1.6 million deaths in 2023. 

The good news is that governments have powerful policy tools at their disposal to stop this trend. Smoke-free policies successfully reduce exposure to secondhand smoke and its deadly health consequences. They protect people in workplaces and public places – and encourage adoption of smoke-free homes, further reducing exposure.  Yet according to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2024, only 79 countries have adopted national smoke-free policies that fully protect citizens from the deadly impact of secondhand smoke. 

Alarmingly, the latest analysis finds that women and children are disproportionately burdened with the harms of secondhand smoke. Children accounted for more than 12 percent of the health burden caused by secondhand smoke, with lower respiratory infections responsible for the greatest harm among children. 

In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of people exposed to secondhand smoke has nearly doubled since 1990. China, India and Indonesia account for nearly half of the world’s exposed population, with 664 million people exposed to secondhand smoke in China alone. 

Behind these staggering numbers – including hundreds of millions of children exposed to secondhand smoke – is a global tobacco industry working overtime to sell more cigarettes, addict more children and increase profits. Philip Morris International shipped 607 billion cigarettes to 170 markets last year, while British American Tobacco sold 465 billion cigarettes worldwide. As the world’s largest publicly traded tobacco companies, these two companies cause irreparable harm to millions of children and communities around the world.  

The latest Global Burden of Disease findings should be a call to action for governments everywhere to immediately adopt lifesaving tobacco control measures. Without urgent action, tobacco companies will continue to reap enormous profits while hundreds of millions of children suffer at the hands of their deadly products.